Hulk
: "I know you're angry." : ''"Oh, no, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." :: ―Wanda Maximoff and Bruce Banner (''Avengers: Age of Ultron'')'' ''Doctor''' Robert Bruce Banner''' is a renowned scientist in the fields of Biochemistry, Nuclear Physics, and gamma radiation. His father, David Banner, was a geneticist who in the late 1960's attempted to create a superior version of the Super Soldier Serum, which originated in Captain America decades before in World War II. The crazed David Banner's experiments on himself resulted in his son Bruce developing a buried genetic mutation which held unlocked within it an enhanced, but highly unstable version of the Super Soldier Serum. Orphaned after a traumatic incident at the age of 4, Bruce would eventually be adopted and live with the Krenzler family. Once an adult, Bruce Banner would eventually work in the exact same field that his father had. Having a natural gift in genetics, Bruce would be invited onto a top-secret government-backed project in the early 2000's which, unbeknownst to him, once again sought to recreate the effects of Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum, built upon the ashes of his father's work in the 60's. When an early-phase nanomed experiment involving gamma radiation goes awry, the mild-mannered scientist found his already-mutated genome unleashed, evolving into something much more powerful. When angered or provoked, he would transform into the rage-fueled and nearly mindless green-skinned monster known as the Hulk. Ever since that fateful accident, Banner's primary concern has been his quest to cure his condition, or to find a way to live with his "curse" if there is indeed no cure. Fearful of the damage that the Hulk could inflict, Banner eventually chose to live a discreet life in remote parts of the world, working to cure the sick and help the poor while trying to elude those who would take advantage of his ability to change into the enormous green menace. When a mounting threat called for Banner's specialized scientific expertise, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury recruited him, knowing full well that the incredible strength of Banner's alter ego would be an additional asset to the Avengers. After the Avengers split up, he became good friends with Tony Stark and was also given the freedom to live his life without being hunted down or surveyed, so long as the destructive power of the Hulk is kept in check. After the HYDRA Uprising, the Avengers regrouped to battle the growing threat of HYDRA. To make sure that the Earth could be protected without the constant need of the Avengers' protection, Banner assisted Stark in creating Ultron, a hyper-advanced prototype artificial intelligence. The AI quickly turned against them, trying to bring about the next step in evolution for humanity, which in it's belief included a world cleansed of most of the population considered "unworthy", and the extinction of the Avengers and other super-humans. Hulk helped in the fight against Ultron and decided to go off the grid after the team successfully defeated him. Biography Early life Childhood Robert Bruce Banner was born on Thursday, December 18, 1969. As the son of a real-life mad scientist, Bruce had a less-than-idyllic childhood. Bruce's father, David Banner, was a genetics researcher who used the original Super Soldier Serum as a base to perform dangerous and unethical experiments, eventually creating a serum of his own with the goal of trying to improve human DNA. Despite orders from his superiors that forbade any trials involving human subjects, David decided to test his new serum on himself. However, all of the effects appeared to be temporary and the experiment was seemingly a failure. murder.]] Once David's wife Edith gave birth to their son, the elder Banner realized his mutated DNA had been passed on and attempted to find a cure for his son's condition. When the government, represented by Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, shuts down his research after learning of his dangerous experiment, David, in a fit of rage, causes a massive meltdown of the facilities' gamma reactor, and then sets off an experimental Gamma Bomb. Upon heading home in order to, in his own words, "destroy the monster that he had created", the crazed David accidentally kills his wife. After the incident, David Banner is institutionalized in an asylum and 4-year-old Bruce is sent into foster care and adopted, taking on the last name Krenzler, and believing both his biological parents to be deceased. Up until his mid 30's, he knew almost nothing about either of them or the incident that he experienced. Young Bruce is a withdrawn and closed child, almost never outwardly expressing emotion, with patches of pale green skin appearing on the rare occasions when he does feel anything. David Banner's experiments on himself were mostly fruitless, but encoded within Bruce's DNA was an inactive but highly potent form of David's Super Soldier Serum. This unique version of the serum actually held the key to the regenerative power that David Banner hoped to create, but Bruce unknowingly suppressed his capabilities as a young child, likely due to the trauma he endured. Throughout his life, the repressed memories of his parents, the gamma explosion and the murder of his mother often manifest themselves as intense nightmares that leave Bruce shaken and disturbed but unable to conjure the memories. Bruce Banner endures a life without a past, but he is often tormented by the dreams he can't remember. Encouraged by his foster mother, Mrs. Krenzler, he decides to pursue a career as a geneticist, as it was his father's profession. As he grew up, he started going by his middle name, as his mother and father did. Unaware that there is a monster inside him, Bruce continually struggled with fits of anxiety, paranoia, stress, depression, embarrassment and rage throughout his teenage years. College and early career Years later Bruce is a brilliant student determined to begin a career in genetics. He is supported by his girlfriend and equally brilliant fellow researcher-in-training, Betty Ross. Bruce met Betty Ross while in college, where they fell in love. Once, at Harvard University, the couple had participated in an experiment involving intense hallucinogens. They soon graduated and moved on to Willowdale, Virginia, first working together at Culver University as instructors, where Bruce specialized in Nuclear Physics, Biochemistry, and was a member of the Bio-science Department. During that time, he was involved in groundbreaking work on anti-electron collisions and gamma radiation, becoming one of the foremost geniuses of his generation. Banner later met Erik Selvig, another one of the university's instructors. Career at Berkeley Moving back to the West Coast at Berkeley. ]] However, things would soon change for the both of them. Betty unexpectedly dumps Bruce, saying she has tired of his cordoned off emotional terrain and resigns herself to remaining an interested onlooker to his quiet life. However, after some bonding post-break up, the two decide to remain friends, citing their frequent interaction as colleagues. In 2002, both Bruce and Betty leave Culver University for better opportunities, finding themselves in a high-paying position as researchers working at the bionuclear research facility of the University of California, Berkeley. As an experienced genetic scientist, Bruce studied the effects of gamma radiation on damaged tissue during his work at Berkeley. Knowing of his father's work in the past, Thunderbolt Ross, now an Army General and the estranged father of Betty Ross, would approach Bruce Banner (at that time still going by his adopted name, Krenzler) with a proposition to develop the basic science for what would eventually contribute to the second iteration of the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project, a top-secret effort started by Ross as a way to try and recreate Erskine's original Super Soldier Serum using left over samples from some of Ross's previous experiments. General Thunderbolt Ross intentionally withholds the true intent of the project from Bruce, who is being led to believe that all of his research is working towards improving human radiation resistance. Ross is heavily concerned for his daughter's safety around Bruce, and, upon learning of the two's progress towards synthesizing a successful serum, begins to use his vast connections to wrestle more control from his superiors. which was used in the experiments. |left]] Bruce and Betty use the repairing capabilities of small nano-machines simply called "nanomeds", to act as a repairing agent which keeps the subject alive during the dangerous procedure. Once activated by a device called a Gammasphere, the nanomeds work to regenerate living tissue while the gamma acts as a catalyst to activate the serum. During the first few years, the experiments go better than planned, the success being credited to the use of copious amounts of gamma radiation, which replaced the lower-energy vita radiation from Project Rebirth. However, with the limited supply of Super Soldier Serum dwindling with each experiment, the nanobots soon begin to result in out-of-control cellular growth, making them invariably fatal to the amphibian test subjects. After several complications upstairs lead to massive loss of profits in overseas markets, Ross is asked to leave the program, which he begrudgingly does. Now a full government sponsored project with no overseer, Bruce and Betty are given more freedom and less supervision. However, the military-industrial company Atheon, represented by the unscrupulous Major Glenn Talbot, becomes interested in the research to build self-healing soldiers of their own. General Ross would maintain an eye on the project through Talbot, who is still working for him and keeping him up to date on their results. Gamma accident By 2003, the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project had been progressing for almost 3 years. By this time, the Iraq War was underway and the project, as well as almost all other programs within Infantry Weapons Development began to lose most of their funding. As a consequence, the labs at Berkeley began to proceed to the later phases of testing when earlier tests were not complete. In addition, Talbot had begun to crack down hard on the team and the old facility was not completely safe and in need of serious repairs. However, with the scientists unable to secure further support, and eager to impress the review board to keep the project alive, the experiments continued. . ]] One day, as Bruce, Betty and their colleague, Harper, continue to make progress in their experiments, they experience a freak lab accident during a routine power-up when there is an overload of the nanobots, with Harper stuck in the lab testing room. Bruce saves Harper and takes the brunt of the gamma radiation himself. Bruce blacks out and Betty contacts the authorities, halting the project for the time being. Harper leaves the project indefinitely, returning to his home state of Utah. Later, as Bruce sits in a hospital bed recovering from the accident, he tells Betty that he's never felt better, which she can't fathom due to the fact that the nanomeds have killed everything else they've touched. Bruce speculates that this is a sign that the Super Soldier Serum has finally been successfully recreated. In truth, the radiation has intertwined with Bruce's already-altered DNA, compounding the strength and effects of the altered Super Soldier Serum that was introduced by the nanomeds. Birth of the Hulk First transformation David Banner reappears after almost 30 years, having escaped from the mental asylum in which he was incarcerated, and begins infiltrating his son's life. He starts by tracking Bruce down, and then murdering the janitor working at the lab building, Benny, and replacing him. The night of the accident, his David confronts Bruce, revealing their relationship and hinting at his knowledge of his son's condition. Using some of Bruce's DNA which he managed to retrieve from the hospital, he begins experimentation on animals, while also continuing to watch his son closely. Soon after, Bruce is released from the hospital and begins working at Berkeley again. the building rage within Bruce stemming from all of the stresses building up around him (repressed memories, his father, Betty, Talbot and the accident) activates his gamma-radiated DNA, triggering Bruce's first transformation into the green Hulk. Bruce's inner beast is unleashed, and in an instant he suddenly becomes one of the most powerful beings on the face of the earth. His father sees him in his transformed state, and is in both awe and horror of what he has created, deepening his obsession. 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